The name Manoury is closely associated with IRCAM, the Parisian research institute at which the composer devised the cycle Sonus Ex Machina over a period of seven years (1987–94): in this work, solo instruments (one flute, one midi piano, one drum and one voice) interact with computer programs using realtime sound simulation. This system is revisited in the Partita I for viola heard on the present recording. The period since Sonus ex machina has seen Manoury’s interest shift toward opera, and in 2004 he began teaching composition at the University of San Diego in California.